A UN-backed report warns that mass death is imminent without an immediate ceasefire and food supplies
Northern Gaza has already exceeded famine levels, the global hunger monitor said on Monday. Around 300,000 people remain trapped in the Palestinian enclave amid Israeli bombardment.
The UN-backed report also warned that more than 70% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million is facing “catastrophic hunger.” The Integrated Food-Security Phase Classification (IPC) said that mass death is now imminent without an immediate ceasefire and deliveries of food aid to the areas affected by the fighting.
More than a dozen children in Gaza have already starved to death, including newborn babies, and many more are at risk as malnutrition soars and urgently needed humanitarian aid is blocked from entering the Palestinian enclave, UN aid agencies warned earlier in March.
The IPC estimated that two out of every 10,000 people will die daily from starvation, malnutrition, and disease if not helped immediately.
“The actions needed to prevent famine require an immediate political decision for a ceasefire together with a significant and immediate increase in humanitarian and commercial access to the entire population of Gaza,” the report said.
Israel has been criticized by its Western partners since it began launching retaliatory strikes against Hamas militants following their attack on Israel on October 7.
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